damn id be happy too...those plants are beautiful! fuckin huge too...love how it looks like a professional orchard those are some trees!
mapinguari - the use of the bark is threefold. First, the emitter tubing we used needed to be covered from the sunlight or it gets all squirrelly and degrades in the UV. Second, the new soil mix came from the worm factory a bit too fine and homogenous. At the end of the season, the bark will be folded into this new soil to improve the structure and tilth. Along these same lines, the bark will provide a wonderful fungal substrate for future crops. Lastly, it looks awesome.
Heading out to watch the sun rise over the ladies. Happy gardening everyone - Butte
First of all I love your garden, have nothing but respect and honestly admire that you are even considering no till (so obviously i am fixing to say something you might not like). And I am no expert so just an opinion.
If you fold the wood chips in you are going to risk changing the C:N ratio in your soil to higher C. I am thinking somewhere around 30:1 is where the microbe balance is going to work best for crops like mj.
If you get that balance out of whack you will fuel a feeding frenzy of the microbes to break down the carbon. The exploding microbe population will feed on the N in the soil (before plants) to power that breakdown process.
It could lead to soil lacking in N for next years crop unless you also fold in some high N source.
My understanding is that no till operations experience loss of yield the first year of maybe even 20% but then quickly gain that back as organic matter from roots and roots of cover crops break down and improve the tilth/balance of the soil.
Maybe something to think about...certainly not trying to tell you what to do or represent myself as an expert. I wish you nothing but the best in your quest no matter which way you go